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Vote for fairness

Statewide early voting hours give Ohioans plenty of chances to get to polls

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Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has struck a fair compromise by standardizing early-voting
hours throughout the state.

According to Husted’s directive, issued Wednesday, all 88 counties must provide a place for
early, in-person voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the first three weeks of the five-week
early-voting period, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the final two weeks. None can offer Saturday or
Sunday hours.

Democrats had been protesting because in many large, urban counties, which tend to lean
Democratic, boards of election were deadlocked over extended hours for in-person early voting,
while in smaller, more Republican-leaning counties, the bipartisan boards agreed to stay open for
voters into evenings and weekends. Husted is the tie-breaking vote for the county election boards,
and he had said ahead of time that he would side with keeping normal business hours.

Inconsistent hours did raise the question of fairness, even though in many counties, tight
budgets don’t support keeping a polling place open evenings and weekends.

Democrats aren’t satisfied with Husted’s current solution, because the hours he mandated are far
fewer than what was offered in many counties in 2008. Then, crowds lined up to vote on weekends,
especially the final weekend before the election.

But those who are dissatisfied with this compromise take for granted that, thanks to a greatly
liberalized voting law, Ohioans now have an enormous window of opportunity during which to
vote.

Before 2006, when the legislature authorized absentee voting for anyone who wanted it, voters
had exactly 13 hours on a single day to cast their vote. They had to show up and vote, unless they
were willing to complete an affidavit declaring a reason why they couldn’t be at their local
polling place on Election Day.

Now, they have 35 days of early voting, including 10 days with hours that start or finish well
beyond the standard 9-to-5 work day. And any registered voter has at least 90 days to request an
absentee ballot for the early-voting period; it can be mailed back any time day or night, as long
as it is postmarked by the day before the election. And this year, to further increase access,
Husted’s office is sending every Ohio voter an absentee-ballot application.